Half Blood
by Robert Blake
Summary: The third installment in the Huntress Series.
1. Prologue

**Publisher's Note: Hello, i do not own metroid nor do i own this fanfiction. This fanfiction was written by GieGie who was the former proprietor of metroid galaxy; i am merely submitting this story because i believe good stories need to be shared with people who can appreciate them.**

H A L F B L O O D

Authors Note: This is a story that takes place after A Hunters Vengeance. I was going to delete this story at first because I wasn't sure how much I liked it myself, but after popular demand from people who have read A Hunters Vengeance and wanted me to come out with another story in my little fan fiction series, I decided not to, also because some people wanted to read it regardless of what I thought of it.

Once again, Metroid is © Nintendo of America which can be found at .com and this is only a continuing fan's tribute to it. I am simply using the ideas and characters made by Nintendo in my imagination and this story reflects that, nothing more. Credit is given where credit is due. Enjoy

Prologue: Remote Planet of Lavidia.

Silence seemed the best place to think when someone had so many thoughts going through their head at once you couldn't hear your own voice when it came forth from your lips. Kylie couldn't help those thoughts at the moment. She felt so helpless at this point, being stuck on this forsaken piece of rock. But she would get away soon. She would get away and show her estranged father that she never forgot, and she never forgave. She heard she even had a half sister, though much younger than herself; she still couldn't help but wonder if this girl was anything like she was.

She was angry with the girl too. Why should she be so much more important to a man than his first-born child? Though Kylie was only 15, she still understood about obligations and having a basic decency to take care of them. This man had no decency in her book however.

The door opened then, and Kylie's mother walked in. Kylie. Your father and his family have been killed. There was a raid at his colony by Space Pirates and he was killed along with his wife and daughter. I just thought you might like to know.

Kylie turned around and ran her fingers through her sandy blonde hair, her love for her mother obvious as she said, what father? I've never had a father.

Lana smiled at Kylie and nodded, knowing Kylie would've wanted to know despite what she may say. I'll be in the dining room if you want me alright?

Alright Mom, I'll be in there shortly; I just need some time to think.

Lana nodded and walked out of the room then, shutting the door silently to her daughter's bedroom. Kylie couldn't help the tears then. Tears of total rejection, tears of knowing she'll never have the chance to show him something, tears of simple sadness over hearing of a raid period. There had been raids on colonies before, and it had always scared Kylie since she was younger, what if it happened on Lavidia?

But there was no time to worry about it, Kylie knew, because soon she would get her mother and herself off that planet and out of that colony for good. It was only a matter of time. Just a little longer, that's all she needed Her mind screamed out to whatever higher being there was for strength. Then she would be safe, she and her mother would be fine. That's all she needed. That's all...period.

But why then did she feel so empty still?


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: 15 years later

It was a silent corner of the lounge on a space station near the Galactic Federations borders. Two men stood there talking between themselves, a sort of deal going down as one of them spoke, so, one person did all that when an entire army couldn't?

Do you have some competition now Draven? The other man said.

Draven was a bounty hunter, clad in a suit that though it looked weak, was in fact quite strong. The lightweight of it allowed for easy movement, and it had numerous attachments for weapons and the like. Whoever saw him didn't mess with him unless they had a death wish, for his presence was a force to be reckoned with.

He looked at the one before him then and said, We'll see. Then he pushed himself away from the wall and set his drink down on the bar counter, placing a hand to the cheek of the barmaid who smiled at him and winked as he walked on.

Computer, disengage docking bay clamps and set the autopilot to active. Destination is the Planet Aines.

Autopilot set, docking bay clamps disengaged, the computer voice replied. The large armored ship moved off into the blackness then, gaining speed until it shot off into warp2.

Drevan looked at his computer screen for a moment in thought then, and thought about what the man had told him at the bar. Then he decided to do a little investigation. Computer, display all information on bio-form Samus Aran and list the last known location of this bio-form.

Accessing databanks, the computer said as its systems went to work. Soon, a picture of a bounty hunter clad in an orange and red suit flashed across the screen, pricking Drevan's interests. Bio-form Samus Aran: Species-unknown. Gender-unknown. Origin-unknown. Date of birth-unknown. Occupation-Bounty Hunter. Current location-unknown. Last known location Planet Zebes.

Drevan found the unknown information a little disheartening and then said, Computer, change course to Planet Zebes.

Course heading unavailable, planet Zebes no longer exists.

Well shit computer, what DO you know about Bioform Samus Aran?

Subject was commissioned on star date 33.215.791 by the Galactic Federation to destroy the threats of the Space Pirates and the Metroids on Planet Zebes. Subject wears an armored suit of unknown design and origin and is considered deadly. Use caution when in the presence of this subject.

Yeah, thanks for the warning. Tell me more about this armored suit. Does it have any flaws or weaknesses?

Unknown. Armored Suit is made of a metal that does not exist on file. No flaws detected in databanks.

Drevan sat back for a moment, thinking. If he wanted to find this hunter, where would he begin?


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

She lay in the bed tossing and turning, unable to shake the dream running through her head, and she actually fell off the side of the bed, sitting up quickly. Ahhh, SHIT she yelled angrily and pushed herself up, walking towards a sink and splashing water across her face to wake herself up more, all the while muttering things like, Goddamn bastards fucking giving me nightmares all the time, pieces of shit, godDAMN it I hate it when I fall out of bed.

Finally she looked at the humor of the situation and actually started laughing. Then she slightly banged her fist down on the sink and muttered, Damn it, once more as she turned about and said, Lights closing her eyes in a squinting fashion as the lights came on and flooded the room. Computer, decrease light intensity by 15%.

The lights then dimmed, and she thought that's better. It was time for the task of eating some breakfast, though she had to make herself eat because she wasn't at all hungry. She hadn't eaten anything in a whole day, and if she didn't eat something now, her energy would be shot straight to hell. As she went to her replicator and got a cup of coffee which smelled like coffee but tasted like shit, and a biscuit that was nothing like what mama used to make, she looked at the clock and realized she was late for an appointment.

Grumbling as she sipped her coffee and made a face that suggested she'd just tasted bile, she muttered, They can kiss my ass. Not like I'm the one who wants to see them. Then she flipped her computer monitor on and said, Computer, display the recent news of the past 24 hours.

It began flashing across the screen for her then as she read silently. People murdered by a suicide bomber, the Galactic Federation proposes tax decreases for all the citizens on Alaron IV, something that made her laugh, and job cut backs were happening on Planet Margides. Nothing interesting at all was going on.

Samus shook her head slowly then and ran her fingers through her sandy blond hair. Some people are such idiots, she muttered and took another sip of her coffee, and then blanched once again, And I'm a fucking idiot for drinking this shit, damn, I need a better replicator. She then thought to put that on her to do list as she walked to a corner of the wall and flipped open a panel, causing a portion of the wall to turn and reveal a newly cleaned armored power suit. Idly Samus reached up and scratched one of the metal implants on her shoulder and sighed softly as she started to get her suit on. She did it most ritualistically and finally placed the last piece, the helmet, onto her head, becoming the legendary bounty hunter most everyone had heard of. The door opened as she walked out of her small quarters upon her gunship and spoke through the helmet, which caused her voice to become mechanical and warped sounding, Computer, set a course for planet Aines. Calculate travel time at warp 5.

Travel time to planet Aines at warp 5 is 15 minutes and 33 seconds.

Engage heading at warp 5 and engage cloaking device.

The ship started into warp speed then as the cloaking device was engaged, and Samus sat back in thought while the ship traveled to where she wanted to go. She had a possible employer who wanted to see her for who knows what reason, and she could only guess it was someone who wanted something or someone killed. Hell, she couldn't remember the last time she'd actually taken a fun bounty. Well, besides the metroids, but that was a different story. Hell, she didn't even know if she'd considered that fun or not. Despite the fact that she'd had several dealings with the Metroids and the space pirates, and the fact that she actually owed her life to a metroid who'd met his end on planet Zebes, it was all in the past, and Samus let it go. She felt no emotional attachments to it save to respect the Metroids for they were mysterious just like she was. Also they simply wanted to survive as she did. That was all Samus knew.

Sometimes she felt as if something could be missing, but in the end all she needed was something to do and she knew that things were right. As long as she had missions to carry out, she wouldn't have to worry about her life being empty. She wouldn't allow herself to think any other way.

Soon the ship entered the atmosphere of the planet and she landed on one of the many ports. The sky was bright, and the sun's shone down on the surrounding area. Samus emerged from her ship, squinting once again behind her visor, as she sincerely hated the brightness of the sky. It glinted off of her armor, giving it that glossy metallic look, and she jumped off of her ships hull and landed on the ground with a thud. The suit she wore made her a good 7-foot in height when in reality she was only almost 6 feet tall.

Planet Aines was a common place for bounty hunters to go to, and usually people didn't travel there for no reason unless they were well protected our could take care of themselves. It was out of the Galactic Federations control, which made it an ideal place for buying and selling illegal devices and weapons and doing illegal things. Most people called it a planet of scum. Samus simply called it a planet true to the nature of most humans and some other alien races.

Not many people gave her a second glance. She'd been to Aines several times, and everyone there knew her simply as Samus, nothing more. If they didn't know her, they didn't mess with her simply for the fact that she looked menacing. Though there were the few who thought that was only an act to keep people from messing with her, but in the end, if they tried to prove their theories, they found out that they were severely wrong.

It was about eleven o'clock in the morning so there were a few people bustling around as Samus walked down the streets towards her destination. She only wondered what this new job being offered her would entail.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

He wouldn't show. One of the only people to do this job and he wouldn't show. Lagan knew it. He knew he wouldn't be able to please his master. He'd told Keller that he had connections and would be able to put together a show for him that would be spectacular. Keller was the leader of a very large clan of humans on Planet Aines that in a way actually controlled the laws and economy of the planet. Lagan was one of his clansmen and had known Keller for only a few months.

Keller had told Lagan he wanted a show. Something that would entertain everyone in his clan. Perhaps a show of sportsmanship. No one had to die, only show their skills. He'd even gone so far as to say it would be nice to have a fight between two bounty hunters to find out which one is better. Lagan, now considering it foolishly, had mentioned Samus Aran, a name that caused Keller to grin brightly. This bounty hunter was one of the greatest in the galaxy, at least the rumor had been told, and Lagan had said he could bring the hunter here for him and get him to agree to this little fight. The only question was who would be the opponent?

To answer that, Keller got a long time friend of his, Drevan Arlington, to agree to this fight. In fact, Keller couldn't believe how eager he was to agree to this, and had asked Keller many questions about Aran. Keller simply told him all he knew was that this guy was rumored to be the best, so he'd better be prepared for it.

Too bad it wouldn't happen, Lagan thought, as he waited still for this hunter to arrive.

You look down sugar, can I get you something else to drink? One of the barmaids asked Lagan as she walked past him and stopped.

Lagan grumbled and looked at his empty cup. You may as well, I'm going to have to go through some shit when I get back, so I might as well be drunk when I have to go through it.

Aww, I'm sorry honey, I'll make this one on the house, ok?

She smiled sweetly and walked off, though it still didn't make Lagan feel any better.

He's over there I think, Lagan heard a man say and looked up to see someone pointing at him. Standing next to the large fat man was a tall, heavily armored bounty hunter with a large cannon arm and a glowing green visor. He did show after all

Lagan's relief didn't last long though as he watched the bounty hunter walk towards him, every step seeming to make him bigger and bigger. Oh shit, Samus wouldn't accept this. This would be an insult, and Lagan would get killed for it. Lagan felt sweat drip down the side of his face then as he swallowed and grabbed the new drink the woman had just set on the table for him, downing it all fast and quickly looking back up to see the hunter towering over him standing next to his table. In nervous respect he stood up and reached his hand out. You're Mr. Aran I presume.

The hunter didn't take his hand, but only sat down across from him. Then he heard a warped mechanical sounding voice coming from behind the visor, Yeah, something like that.

Samus was about to laugh at the nervousness she could sense in him. She guessed he thought she'd kill him If he looked at her the wrong way, and though she wouldn't, she enjoyed the fact that he thought so. So that was control by using fear, it still worked very well.

I'm Lagan Telmson, the one who requested your services, as I'm sure you already surmised.

Samus stayed quiet, and the mirrored green visor seemed to simply stare him down like he was nothing more than a small meal to this hunter. Samus didn't move, and so Lagan continued. I guess you want to hear the job. It's not an everyday offering I can tell you now, but you'll be paid well. Fifty thousand credits, and five thousand in advance.

Samus didn't care about the money really, though that was a good amount. Tell me, was all she said when he didn't continue.

Well, the job is this. We want to hire you to fight another bounty hunter to entertain my master's clan. It's not a fight to the death, but more or less a show of sportsmanship. The competition we have for you is another bounty hunter who is quite good at his work, and should prove a worthy adversary. I sincerely hope this isn't a waste of your time, but it could get you an even better reputation, not to say that you need it, he added the last part in hopes this hunter wouldn't think he was offending him.

That WAS a new job, Samus thought. Despite the barbaric sort of atmosphere behind it, it defiantly sounded interesting. And not a fight to the death? Sounded too easy to her. What's the catch?

There was ALWAYS a catch, Samus had learned. Lagan just looked at her and shrugged, No catch, just a fight. Well, I suppose there would be a catch if you lost. But I don't think that would be a problem. Lagan looked at Samus hopefully.

Samus supposed that was a catch, but it wasn't too big of one in her opinion, so she sat back and thought about it for a moment. Fine. When do you want this...show of sportsmanship done?

Lagan couldn't help his grin but wiped it off his face quickly as he cleared his throat and said, Anytime you can. Hopefully in the next day or two. But today is good too. My master, Keller, the leader of our clan, was looking forward to seeing this I believe. It would take place in the large coliseum not too far from here.

Samus simply nodded as she replied, Then take me there. I'm free and this sounds as if it could be rewarding.

Lagan where the hell are you boy came a loud voice from the doorway of the bar. Lagan looked up to see Keller come in and stood quickly as Keller came over to him, only to stop when Samus stood up and looked at the man. Oh shit, is this Samus?

Lagan nodded, Mr. Aran, meet my master, Keller. Master, Mr. Aran has agreed to do the fight.

Keller suddenly smacked Lagan on the back, causing him to stumble forward somewhat as he said, Good job boy, did you pay him the advancement money yet?

Quickly Lagan reached in his pocket and pulled out a pouch with 5 thousand credits in it, handing it to Samus who took it and looked inside only for a moment. Keller watched with a smile as he said, Damn you're tall This is going to be one hell of a show. The whole clan will come when they hear of it.

Lagan spoke quietly then, Mr. Aran is willing to fight today if you wish it sir.

Hell yeah boy, go tell everyone there's gonna be a fight Don't worry, I'll show Samus to the coliseum.

Lagan nodded and ran off out the door as Samus watched him for a second and then turned her helmet back towards Keller who was grinning at her. She rolled her eyes somewhat but didn't say anything, expecting him to lead the way. Instead, he said, You want a drink?

Samus shook her head no, I want you to show me to this coliseum.

Keller nodded, Alright, just wondering. Come on then, It's not too far.

Samus followed behind him as he lead her out of the bar and down the street, talking the whole way about how thankful he was Samus decided to do this more or less because the people in his clan would be entertained. Samus listened to him idly, but thought for a moment about the person she was going to fight. She wondered his name, or her name, but decided she'd find out soon enough. The only real worry going through Samus' mind was if she knew this person or not and would really want to fight them. But it didn't matter either way. She'd already signed up to do the job, and that was all there was to it.

Well, this is it. I'll be contacting Drevan now and tell him to arrive as soon as he can. He left not too long ago, him and I are good friends, and I can promise you he'll be good competition for you, well, I hope so anyway. From the looks of it you could wipe out an army and not really care. If you need anything, just let me know. I'll be inside.

Keller started off then after he'd lead her inside the large open dome coliseum, and Samus looked around slowly. Wipe out an entire army and not care she thought. That was defiantly an exaggeration. Then something caught Samus' eyes on top of a large platform in the center of the ring. It glinted in the sunlight and upon further inspection Samus could see it was a large cannon of some type, probably an electrical cannon. She wondered what its purpose was for a few moments, and upon scanning it, could see that it was quite operational. This job seemed to get a little stranger all the time.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Drevan was inside the coliseum. Once he'd been contacted, he had gone to get himself a drink and then come back to the coliseum prepared for anything. Already people were gathering around gossiping about the fight to take place in a few short hours, but Drevan didn't see who he really wanted to. No, the hunter he'd heard so much yet so little about was nowhere in sight.

It's about damn time boy Keller called out as he walked up behind him. I contacted you an hour ago, where the hell have you been?

Getting a drink. Call it a little ritual of mine, Drevan replied and looked about, So where is he?

Samus? Don't know. He's still here, but I haven't seen him for the past hour. I think he went to his ship to return the advanced pay we gave to him there, and will be back shortly.

Drevan nodded then and saw a few of the people staring at him as if they were sizing him up. He didn't make any outwards gestures to them though and only looked back at Keller. So what do you think?

Drevan was wondering about Keller's opinion about his chances in this fight. Keller then replied, I think it will be a good match. You've defiantly got some competition Drevan, but so does Samus. I don't know if he's ever heard of you or not, but I'm sure you're going to give a good fight.

Keller knew Drevan was no push over. Drevan just nodded then and said, I'll be near the coliseum grounds if you need me.

Keller watched as Drevan walked off and called out then, Drevan

He stopped.

Just incase, good luck my friend.

Drevan took a deep breath and continued on then. He knew Keller had faith in him, and that he was a very good fighter. But Drevan wanted to make sure he had his wits about him, and so he simply walked towards the exit onto the field of the coliseum, watching the people fill the stands about it and crowd together waiting for the fight to commence.

He leaned against the wall then and waited, cracking his neck somewhat while he turned it from side to side slowly. It was a habit of his he'd do every now and again when he wasn't paying attention.

Samus thought that sound was terrible and pursed her lips together somewhat while she sized the man before her up. He was wearing a suit, though nothing like hers, that was sturdy and reliable in a fight. A scan of the suit determined it was made of a metal that isn't too easy to get a hold of as it's only found on one planet, and can't be damaged easily buy conventional weapons. He didn't have an arm cannon either, only two power pistols at his sides and a plasma rifle strapped to his back. She guessed he had a few other weapons hidden somewhere on his person as well and thought about that for a moment.

There was also a helmet upon his head, something like hers, only it was a little more rounded and totally black, like the rest of his suit. All in all, she thought that she did indeed have some pretty good competition, and she turned around to walk off silently, not even making her presence known until she heard him say, You aren't even going to introduce yourself Aran?

Samus smiled, knowing now she indeed had good competition and she stopped in her tracks, not looking back as she replied, her voice distorted once more through her helmet, I didn't know if you would have wanted that. Usually fighters don't talk.

Drevan didn't know Samus was there until Samus had begun to move, then he'd seen the oddly shaped shadow upon the ground and knew it was him. He turned around and looked at the hunters back, seeing that this person was indeed large, if only for the suit he wore. That's true, but I've found that I've looked forward to getting the chance to meet you.

Samus turned around then and Drevan found himself staring into the green glow of her visor. What he was really curious about was what lay beneath the visor. What could cause someone to become such a great bounty hunter and do the type of things Samus has done? Was it even a person? What type of person? Human like him or some type of alien species?

I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or not Drevan.

You should, I don't have any real malicious intents, unless you count me wanting to win this battle as something malicious.

Samus smiled behind her helmet and simply said, Then may the best hunter win. Or perhaps, the more skilled hunter.

Drevan nodded and heard a horn blow, signaling that the challenge was about to start. Then he heard Keller's unmistakably loud voice calling out to everyone.

Good evening fellow clansmen. It is with great pleasure that I present to you a challenge of challenges. We have two well known and very skilled hunters fighting today to see who is the better hunter

The crowd started cheering as Keller waited for the cheering to stop, and then continued. First, I bring to you a hunter who's carried out more bounties and done more successful missions than I can count, a good friend of mine as well. Armed with a suit of rare technology and design for battle, two power pistols, a plasma rifle, and a few surprises up his sleeves, Drevan Arlington

Drevan couldn't help but raise his eyebrow at the odd introduction, but shrugged inwardly knowing that the people liked this type of thing, and so walked out when his name was called into the two glaring sun's of the planet. The people were cheering and booing at the same time as he did so, and he couldn't help but smile underneath his helmet about it.

Once the crowd started dying down, Keller then continued. Our opponent for Draven is a bounty hunter of known skill and unknown origin. Rumored to be the best in the galaxy, and armored in a suit of unknown design, carrying an arm cannon, I present to you Samus Aran

The crowd did go wild then. Samus had thought the introductions were a bit silly herself, but it seemed to please the audience greatly. She walked out when her name was called then, slowly stepping across the field from Drevan and simply looked around as if she were at home in her own house, doing nothing but reading a book maybe.

Then Keller went on after a few minutes, once the crowd died down in their cheers, The competition is simple. It will first be pure melee, and after the opponents have made each other mad enough, they'll pull out their guns, and we might have a few surprises for them along the way. So fighters, prepare yourselves and...BEGIN

Another loud blow of a horn, and Drevan looked toward Samus who was already coming at him, making a swipe for his face with her cannon arm. Drevan backed up and kicked out his foot for her visor and watched as she dodged it, but grabbed his foot and pulled up, causing him to fall on his back. He shook his head only for a split second before he saw Samus' booted foot coming down towards his helmet and rolled to the side, once, twice, three times before he could grab her leg and knock her onto her own back.

He got up then quickly and walked around to her side as she lifted her hips up and without using her arms propelled herself upwards back into a standing position again. The two opponents stared at each other for a moment then and grabbed each other in a wrestlers hold. Soon however Samus overcame Drevan and lifted him up into the air, throwing him across the field.

It was like fighting some sort of super hero, Drevan thought as he landed and the wind was knocked out of him. He knew then he'd have to change his strategy if he wanted to beat Samus. He got up quickly and heard a cage open behind him, turning about to see some sort of creature with large talons and deadly sharp teeth emerge from it, a chain attached to his neck. Its 5 yellow eyes glowed evilly at him as it lunged, but was stopped by the chain. Drevan backed away and looked towards Samus, hearing some odd yelling coming from the audience, to find the hunter engaged in a duel with another of the same type of creature on the other side of the arena.

Samus was pinned to the ground, one of the creatures large paws pressed against her cannon arm while her other hand fought with it's opposite paw to get herself from beneath it. She was trying to lift her gun arm as well so she could get a clear shot, and knew if she didn't soon, Drevan would get the upper hand of her and it would all be over.

The creature removed it's paw from her gun arm then to strike at her, and that was her chance as she lifted it up and pointed it to the beasts head, taking several shots and blowing it's blood and gore all over her visor. As it fell to the side, she rolled away from it, and looked towards Drevan who'd just taken a swipe to her helmet, and she was knocked backwards, flipping over onto her stomach.

Taking a deep breath, Samus pushed her way up as Drevan came closer and once again made another attack by lifting his knee towards her helmet. She pushed that away though, and lunged towards him, knocking him onto the ground as they rolled about, wrestling each other for dominance. Soon, they found themselves nearing the still living creature, and then pushed themselves up, their arms locked on one another, and their bodies pushing hard.

Samus realized where this was going when he started pushing her towards the creature again, and she pressed even harder against him, finally pushing to the side so that he was now being pushed towards the beast. The crowd was roaring with excitement, and yelling unintelligibly as they continued to switch positions until they realized it was futile and let go of one another. Samus took steps back as she breathed heavily, and watched Drevan closely who was doing almost the same thing. They both knew it was time to use weapons.

Draven pulled his rifle off of his back first as Samus began to charge up her cannon, small particles of energy being sucked into the base of her cannon like a vacuum. She jumped to the side as Draven fired three shots at her, all three of the shots going behind her and hitting the head of the creature, killing it instantly. As Samus came back down towards the ground she let the shot go and watched as he jumped to the side and the shot hit the ground near his foot.

The fight continued on like this for a while, both taking shots and dodging them, sometimes hitting, but the shot didn't cause that much damage due to the armor of their suits. The crowd was wild with enthusiasm over the fight, none of them seeming to care who won anymore for they both seemed to be equally skilled and equally powerful.

It wasn't too much longer however that the cannon on top of the pole that Samus had seen earlier began to rotate about and charge up, pointing towards Drevan as a loud sound could be heard just before it let loose a shot of powerful energy towards him that he just barely dodged. Samus could see then that the stakes had been raised highly. Perhaps the beam wasn't powerful enough to kill, but she didn't want to find out.

Draven took a few more shots at Samus then as she ran towards the far end of the field, trying to get a good view of both him and the cannon incase it decided she was its next target. None of Drevan's shots hit, and Samus ducked and rolled to the side, coming into a crouched position and firing off some more blasts of her gun, the final of which hit Draven and knocked him forward against the wall. She watched as he crumbled back down to the ground and just sat there for a few moments. Then she heard the cannon charging up to fire, and looked up just in time to see it letting loose a burst of energy in her direction.

Drevan looked up when he heard the cannon fire, and watched as Samus jumped, yet was hit on her side by the powerful beam and knocked against the wall.

Samus felt electricity surge through her, and even among the crowd's cheers and yelling, Drevan could still hear the mechanical sound of a scream of agony as the beam stopped and Samus fell forward, then onto her knees, and then onto the ground, motionless. He was too weakened to get up, as she'd won the fight, he knew, but had just been a little too slow in dodging the cannon's beam.

Was he dead? He wasn't moving. The crowd went silent then as some of them stood up, including Keller, waiting to see if the hunter would move.

The fight, everyone knew, was over, and they'd all seen who'd won, yet they all knew that both these hunters were very well skilled. Now the only question was had Samus Aran been killed in the process.

Finally, Drevan made his way to his feet, though he stumbled quite a bit, and somehow, though slowly, got his way towards the hunter as everyone watched, dropping to his knees beside him, and placing a hand on his back. Just then he saw the dirt blowing out repeatedly from underneath the helmet Samus wore and looked up towards Keller with a nod, telling him Samus was indeed alive. Everyone stood then and started cheering loudly as Drevan sat back and began to rest, actually glad that was over with.

Samus had been knocked unconscious, but she wasn't out for long and moved her cannon arm, pressing it into the ground in an attempt to push herself up. But she was far too drained still, so she pushed herself over instead and found herself staring up into a darkened sky, cloudy with rain as the first few drops started to land upon her visor and roll to the side. All she thought was, though she was glad it was over, it was actually fun.

You're quite the fighter Samus Aran, Drevan said somewhat weakly then. Just as I knew you would be. You have my respect.

Samus only took a few more breaths before she closed her eyes and lifted her gun arm. The people were already leaving the coliseum, though some of them were curious to see what else would happen and stuck around. Samus pulled her gun arm before her visor and flipped a switch over, pressing a few buttons that would summon her gunship to her area. It was large enough for her ship to land in, and she was ready to get out of there as soon as she got her money.

Great show, Great show from both of you .You have defiantly made my day and the people will be talking about it here for months to come. We should have more things like this around here I think

Keller's loud voice came from behind Samus as she continued to lie there. She felt something land on her chest then and looked, seeing a pouch, no doubt her final pay for this job. Drevan also found a pouch thrown before him as he pushed himself up and stood before Keller, removing his helmet, revealing the face of a young man, probably in his twenties, with long black hair pulled back into a ponytail. Thanks Keller. I think we're both equally matched in the skill of fighting, but I'd say Samus won. If he'd jumped a little sooner and could've avoided the blast, he would have been standing over me in victory.

Yes, I thought that myself. I'm glad you're not upset about it Drevan.

Drevan took a deep breath and closed his green eyes, Well, disappointed yes, but not upset. You know me, I give credit where credit is due, despite my personal opinions and feelings.

Samus continued to lie there as they talked, listening somewhat, but worried about her side. It was burning, and she wanted to go take care of it without them knowing she was pretty badly injured. Her ship flew overhead then and landed near by, simply hovering over the ground as Drevan looked towards it and nodded, That's a good looking ship Samus. Mind if I come inside and take a look?

No, you can't. Sorry, I don't allow visitors, she replied, trying to hide the pain in her voice though there was an unmistakable heavy breathing and Drevan picked up on it somewhat even though the voice was distorted. Someone had called Keller's name then and got his attention as he told Drevan he'd see him soon and went off to see what they wanted, probably a congratulations on a job well done or something.

Samus got all the strength she could muster then, both to move and to hide her pain, and pushed herself upwards getting onto her knees tediously, and pushing herself to her feet, used the wall for support. She still hadn't looked back at Drevan yet, but he was watching her, and knew by her movements something was wrong. She seemed to use the wall a lot for support, and asked, Are you sure you're ok?

Yes, I'm fine, she replied and started towards her ship, grabbing the railing and trying to hoist herself up, but groaned loudly in pain when she realized that was going to be difficult to do without help. She knew it was an electrical burn now, but if she could just get inside her ship she could take care of it all and be fine.

Well, I don't care what you say, you're getting help damn it, Drevan said and walked up behind Samus, getting onto the ship with ease, and reaching down for her hand. Samus glared up at him, though he couldn't see it and repeated stubbornly, I said I don't need any help

Drevan growled in return and grabbed Samus' hand himself, pulling the heavy bounty hunter up onto the ship. Samus got her footing then and tried to stand alone, but almost fell off the side, being grabbed by Drevan who pulled the armored hunter closer and looked for the hatch to the ship, as Samus, who'd seemed to finally give in, opened it and they descended down into the cockpit of the gunship.

Drevan looked around at the technology of the vessel, and found it was quite foreign to his own, much more advanced. He then watched as Samus pulled himself against a wall and opened a door to a small chamber within the ship, making his way inside. It was obviously the hunters sleeping quarters, for times most likely when he didn't have anywhere else to stay.

Samus was already pissed that he was inside her gunship, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it really, and so let it go. She also found it somewhat odd, and quite annoying, that she trusted him, though she didn't know him well at all, and felt pretty comfortable with letting him help her, though she was still stubborn as a dog about it.

When Drevan had been helping Samus back onto her ship, he'd replaced his helmet, and now that he wasn't so preoccupied with helping her, he'd taken it back off. Samus just stared at him. She couldn't seem to help it. She'd never seen a man with such good looks before, but she made herself forget about it, and said, You can leave now.

Drevan folded his arms and looked at Samus with a cocky grin and said, I know I can, but I want to make sure you're alright.

I told you I'm fine, now get the hell out of my ship damn it.

Drevan found this too interesting. He knew Samus would have to take his hood off to fix his wounds, and he wanted to see the man beneath the helmet. He wanted to see the man that had beaten him.

I would, but I find it would be easier if I stayed and helped first, and then left.

Are you always this stubborn?

Are you?

Samus growled then, though weakly, and cringed once more as the pain shot through her side. It was going to have to be taken care of now, with or without him here. The pain was getting unbearable and she felt as if she'd pass out soon if she didn't.

She moved her arm then, causing the armor to move against her wound, and cried out in pain, stiffening up and freezing in position. So instead she removed her cannon arm and let it fall to the floor carelessly and lifted her right arm, pressing the valve which released the air from her suit, making a hissing sound and watched Drevan for a moment. You're not going to...GODDAMN IT it hurts...

Samus almost felt like crying. She fought the tears back however and as her eyes closed felt Drevan pulling her helmet off of her head for her. He was determined to help.

Drevan finally looked at the face of the man who'd beaten him, only to find that he was a she. He did a double take. Though the look on her face was one of anguish, Drevan couldn't help the utter surprise that Samus was a woman. Oh shit I was beaten by a woman...How the hell was I beaten by a woman? How dare you be a woman ?

Samus actually found that funny as she pulled one of the arms to her suit off and said, Don't ask me, that's my parents fault.

Drevan grunted and continued helping her out of her suit, and as the armor was put away, he found that there was a hole in her tank top and some severely burned skin showing through it. Samus cringed when he went to lift the shirt and breathed even more deeply.

There's an antiseptic above my sink. Get it out for me.

Drevan nodded and grabbed the door to the cabinet above the sink and looked for what she was talking about, finding an injection needle and the antiseptic. He then prepared the needle for her, having taken care of himself in this fashion many times and went to administer it to her.

Samus grabbed his hand and with her right hand took the needle from him. I'll do it thanks.

He nodded then and noticed several spots on her body that had some sort of metal attached to them. You're a cyborg too?

Samus stuck the needle into her arm slowly and injected the fluid, taking a few deep breaths as she could feel it going to work already. She then tossed the needle onto the table and smiled somewhat, leaning against the wall on the opposite side of her bunk, No, I only have cybernetic enhancements.

He nodded then, wondering where she'd come across those at, and who was willing to give them to her. So is that why you're so strong?

Samus shrugged somewhat then, feeling the pain becoming dulled in her side until it seemed to no longer exist and replied, You could say that I suppose. Are you going to tell anyone?

She looked up at him then with her hazel blue eyes and it took him a second to figure out what she was talking about. Hell no, I don't want anyone to know I was beaten by a woman.

Samus smiled then somewhat and pushed herself from her sitting position to stand before him, now that she was out of her suit, she had to look up at him. Drevan couldn't believe this. The legendary bounty hunter was actually shorter than he was. You've got to be some kind of person to do what you do.

Samus shrugged and then moved her way past him, saying, Thanks for helping. I hate appearing vulnerable though. Tell me where your ship is and I'll take you to it.

The south port of this city, and you're welcome, he said as he watched her sit behind the controls to her ship and work them as if it were second nature to her, which it probably was. It finally dawned on him that not only was she a woman, but she was a very beautiful woman as well.

As the ship lifted off, Drevan watched the view screen and thought for a few moments. He wondered if he were indeed a good bounty hunter after all. A good bounty hunter would take this chance when he got it wouldn't he? Killing Samus Aran would have many rewards wouldn't it? He shook his head though, and knew he couldn't kill her. He'd come to respect her too much already.

She pulled the ship around to the south port and saw his ship through her view screen, nodding and saying, You have a nice ship as well Drevan. Then she pushed herself up and pressed a few buttons on the wall as the ship went from active to idle and turned around to look at him, only to find he wasn't but an inch away from her. She titled her head back and looked up at him for a moment as she put her hand on his chest and pushed him back away from her. He stepped back but placed his hand over hers and held it to his chest, pulling her with him. She tried to pull her hand away, but she didn't give it her full effort. Stop it.

He had that same cocky grin on his face as he asked, Stop what?

Let go of my damn hand.

I don't want to let go of your damn hand.

I'll break your neck, now let go.

No you won't.

Yes I- and she was stopped when he kissed her quickly, letting his mouth linger over hers for a few moments before pulling back.

She looked up at him when he did so and said, Get out.

It wasn't that bad was it?

I said get- and he kissed her again. This time it was slower, and he even took the time to wrap his arms around her and hold her closer to him. She pulled her lips away though and growled pushing at him hard, causing him to let go, Damn it, she muttered and walked into her quarters once again, grabbing her cannon arm quickly and placing it back on her right arm. She then held it towards him and repeated, I said, get out

The cannon wasn't active without the suit really, it would fire, but was nowhere near as powerful, but she hoped he'd take her bluff and leave.

Drevan sighed and leaned against the doorway as he said, Fine, I'll leave, but not without a goodbye kiss.

A what ?

A goodbye kiss.

Samus growled, You've got to the count of three.

Drevan knew he was taking a chance, but he didn't care. He was having a little bit too much fun to stop now. Damn, but she was stubborn.

One...

He took a step forward.

TWO

He grabbed the end of her gun.

Damn it

He pulled the cannon away from her, and Samus allowed him to pull her closer, but muttered, Don't start this with me. I'm not the kind of person you should be like this with.

Why is that? You have someone else you'd rather be with?

No, I don't have that much luck with men, and I'd rather keep it that way.

Then consider your luck changing, he murmured before he kissed her again and this time they didn't stop. It was hours later before then were completely finished, and they lay on the bunk of her bed with the sheets wrapped around them. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was even, though she wasn't asleep. Neither was Drevan and he looked down at her for a moment, wondering how good of an idea it was to have slept with her. She had been right about not wanting to have any kind of luck with men, and he should have felt the same way, he did actually, but he simply couldn't resist.

Samus was thinking the same exact thing. She'd simply have to space herself the best she could from this. They were both hunters, both of them lived by their own codes and could be easily killed in the process. Neither of them would be good for one another and needed to be with one another like this, but she still couldn't stop herself from lying there so comfortably for just a little while longer. Perhaps she'd pretend that this all meant something and that she was actually loved by someone. But she didn't want to lie to herself either, and so she pushed herself up away from him and sat on the edge of her bunk, taking a few deep breaths while he watched her.

Are you alright?

Yes.

I don't believe you.

Believe what you want. But you need to leave now.

Drevan knew she was right, and sighed softly. He wasn't used to not getting his way, and if he could have his way, he'd do this again with her, and again if his body allowed it. Tell me the truth, you enjoyed this didn't you.

Samus shut her eyes again. It doesn't matter if I did or not and you know that. We're both hunters, and we would never be able to work this out. I work alone, and I'm not stopping my work. This just isn't what needs to happen, and you know it. It was just a one-time thing, and it won't happen again. I doubt if we'll ever see each other again. That's the way things go for me, and I accept it, you should too.

Drevan growled. He couldn't help it, and sat up wrapping his arms around her once more. Samus didn't fight him off either as she listened to him speak, wishing she could believe his words. I know you're right, but I don't want to accept it. I've always gotten what I wanted, one way or another, and I can't explain it, but you're, well, I don't think I need to say anything. But I want this to last, and I'll find a way to make it last.

You're just hurting yourself, and me. Damn it, I don't need this She pushed herself away from him then and put some clean clothing on, as she looked back at him, Your ship is waiting for you. As my life is waiting for me. I need to get back to it, but I can't with you still here.

Samus thought for a moment about killing him. Maybe then she'd feel better, but she just couldn't bring herself to do that. Damn it, what was wrong with her ? Soon she became so angry that she turned away from him and leaned onto her sink, gripping the sides harshly and saying through gritted teeth, Leave now, or by god you'll see how angry I can get.

I've already seen you angry. Out there on the field, when we were struggling to throw each other to the beast, I could see your eyes through your visor and I could see the fury in them. I guess that's why I like you so much, you have a spark in you that I don't see in people very often.

Damn you , she yelled as she turned around quickly and lunged for him, beating upon his shoulders and smacking him a time or two as she yelled, Get the hell out of here before I kill you damn it Please...don't make me kill you, her words ended on a sob as she stopped beating him, unable to believe how she was acting.

Drevan sighed and held her close, slowly rubbing her back, as he said, All I ask is that you give it some more time. I'm not asking you to give up anything at all, but you owe it to yourself to see if you can keep this, don't you think? If it doesn't work out, we'll never see each other again.

It's too fast, she whispered, It's all happening too fast, like when my family was, and she stopped and looked up at him. You've already seen far more than I want anyone to, and I don't know why I haven't killed you yet because you've severely pissed me off several times since you've been on my ship, but I will. I'll give it a few days. But no more. Maybe I'll call it a small break from my regular life, and not be Samus Aran for a while. But not for long.

Drevan nodded, Alright then, that's all I ask.

He knew it was a lot to ask of her period, so he wouldn't push it any farther than he needed to get what he wanted. In turn, he placed a kiss upon her cheek sweetly and offered a smile to her. A smile she couldn't help but be charmed by. She smiled back somewhat then and looked away in thought, wondering what would happen now. She hated this type of uncertainty, and she hated having to wait for anything. She also hated the fact that she didn't know why she was agreeing to this, but she supposed she'd find out soon enough. Either way it went, she knew nothing would come of it, nothing could come of it, and so she didn't hope anything about it or expect anything of it. That would protect her from being hurt when this ended.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Jillian tilted the glasses on her nose and looked at the computer monitor. That can't be right. Victory, her dog, began barking and Jillian, as frustrated as she was with the program she was working on, looked at the dog and said, Oh shut up. What is your problem here lately? You bark every 5 minutes for no reason.

Just then a knock came to her door and Jillian sat back, wondering whom it could be. She wasn't expecting anyone and stood calling, I'm coming, figuring it was her neighbor or something coming to tell her to please keep her dog quiet. As she opened the door she was very surprised, Oh my God, where have you been

Jillian smiled as Samus stood there looking in at her. Just when Jillian was about to invite her in she saw a tall handsome man standing behind Samus and said, Uh, who's that?

Samus rolled her eyes and walked into the home, looking back at Jillian as she said, He's just my butler, and took a seat on the soft chair across from Jillian's work station.

He don't look like a butler, she chuckled and reached her hand out to him, saying, I'm Jillian. Sorry if I seemed a bit rude, Samus doesn't usually bring herself over, much less others.

Drevan smiled and nodded, Yes, well, she's stubborn, and I'm not her butler, I'm just a friend.

Jillian looked over at Samus who was holding a pillow over her head to keep from getting mad at him. Well, from the looks of it I'd say you're more than just a friend.

Goddamn it Samus exclaimed and threw the pillow down.

Yep, more than just a friend, Jillian chuckled, loving to goad Samus when she was frustrated with something. She could defiantly understand Samus' reluctance to have a relationship with any man, let alone admit it, and she knew that even though Samus would never admit it, it was just what Samus needed, if only for a little while. Jillian was so afraid Samus would end up in her grave alone and without having had at least one or two of the simpler things in life.

So, what can I do for you?

We came over on his ship so that I can spend some time away from my work. I told him to come here and this is where we could spend this time at.

Jillian had never seen Samus so agitated over something. Samus was always cool and confident, but then again, Samus hadn't had many relationships with the opposite sex before either. Not wanting to hurt Samus' pride, Jillian didn't say anything about that, and hopefully Samus would start to feel a little better about it. It still made her smile though as she went and shut the screen to her computer off. That sounds great. I've got an extra room for you Drevan, so you guys can stay here as long as you like. Samus, you'll be sleeping with me of course.

Jillian was acting like a mother hen now, Samus thought, but she didn't really mind. Or did she? It didn't matter one way or the other though. Samus just reminded herself that she was going to distance herself from this as much as possible and not care about it once it was over.

But even Samus couldn't make herself believe that.

So, how did you two meet anyway?

Drevan described the events, and Jillian listened interestedly. Samus has always been stubborn; you just have to ignore it really. As long as she respects you, you typically don't have anything to worry about.

Drevan just nodded and looked at Samus who was staring out the window, her long sandy hair pulled into a ponytail as it so often had been. How long have you two known each other?

Since I was about 15 years old. She found me after a Space Pirate raid. Ever since we've been kind of like a family.

Samus hid her smile at the memory and looked back at Jillian, saying, We are family. We just don't get to see each other too much.

Jillian nodded, It's really good you came by though. Victory has been driving me nuts and so has this new program I'm working on.

Samus patted her lap and the terrier jumped into it as she said, He just misses me. What kind of program is it?

Standing, they both went to the computer. Drevan felt a little left out, but he liked watching Samus in this type of environment. It seemed to expose more of her personality to him.

Flipping the computer back on, Jillian showed her the layout of her new program, something designed to hack into a computer undetected, and if the computers security was too high, it would disengage itself and make it look as if it were just a standard process for checking the computers systems. Samus smiled when she saw this and said, I like it. What's not working though?

The commands aren't working. It won't automatically disengage itself when a system can't be cracked.

Oh, that's easy to fix, here, Samus said and handed Jillian the dog. She then sat down and began typing some commands from the terminal into the system and corrected the problem. Then she stood up and said, Now run your tests and see if there's any problem with it. And give me my dog back.

Jillian chuckled and handed Samus the dog, who returned to her seat. Then Jillian began running her tests on it again while Samus sat down, once again far away from Drevan, and paid Victory tons of attention.

Nope, no problems. It's working perfectly now. This is why I wish you were hanging around here more often Samus. Everything gets fixed when you're here.

I'm not a handy man.

I know that.

Then stop saying it.

Well excuse me.

There's no excuse for you.

Samus

Jillian

They both gave each other a look then, but Jillian started laughing as she turned away and said, Damn it I missed you.

The next hour or so went by that way as Samus and Jillian exchanged meaningless insults. Sometimes Jillian won, sometimes Samus won. Then Jillian had to go to work. She was a teacher in a small class for computer technologies at a near by center.

Samus suddenly felt a cringe of disappointment. She didn't want to be left alone with Drevan. She wanted to go back to her ship and find some Pirates to kill, or maybe some aliens. Anything but be here with him.

I'll be back in a few hours. You two have fun and try not to break anything. Jillian laughed loudly as she left, and Samus wanted to call her a bitch, but she refrained. She wouldn't have meant it anyway.

So now what? Samus asked and looked at Drevan.

So you know I'm still here?

Rolling her eyes, she stood up and went into the kitchen. Drevan followed and watched Samus for a few more minutes before saying; it's ok to open up to at least one person you know?

I have. Jillian is that person.

Drevan groaned, Well two people then. You trust me, I know you do, so why are you hiding like this?

Samus took a deep breath and put the cup she was holding down. Her back was facing him. If you've noticed, I'm not hiding a damn thing from you. Which is why I'm so withdrawn. I don't like this, and you know that, now get off my damn back about it

Drevan turned around and let the door slam behind him. Then Samus heard Victory barking and yelping happily, and she simply shook her head. She'd told him she'd try not to be this way. But damn, it was who she was. How the hell was she supposed to get closer to him if she wasn't able to be herself?

Making her decision then and there, Samus turned and walked out of the kitchen, and went straight towards Drevan who stood from his crouched position and looked at her, surprised when she placed both of her hands on his cheeks and kissed him hard, feverishly. Though surprised, Drevan gave into the kiss quit eagerly until Samus pulled back and looked seriously at him. I'm not going to be pushed around by this. I'm not going to be something I'm not. So if you want me, like you said you always get what you want, then you'll have to put up with my life as well. Bounty Hunter and all. That's who I am, and if you don't like it then you can kiss my ass.

She realized then she'd tried to do things his way simply because she did like him, more than she was willing to admit at that time, but not anymore. She was a grown woman and she could accept it. There was no use in hiding from it. She was just glad she realized that now instead of later when it was too late. Now look at me and tell me you can accept that. Because if you can't then I'm leaving and you won't see me again. That I can promise.

Drevan swallowed, somewhat senseless from her kiss and nodded, Yeah, I can accept that. Then he pulled her in for another kiss and once again they had their share of each other intimately.

If this was going to work, Samus thought, then it would be one of the oddest relationships she'd ever heard of. She was sure there had been other odd ones as well, and she realized that odd was almost all her life had ever been about. So perhaps it would work after all.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Edward, stop being such a fucking moron They won't listen to me, they all think I killed that woman, and they'll put me in jail faster than you can snap your fingers

Henrick was on the COM with an employ of his. He'd recently been accused of murder, and was now on trial for it. Henrick had killed the woman, but she had seen too much. He hid his tracks well too, but not well enough it seemed.

After a few more moments of ranting on the COM with Edward, Henrick closed the channel and sat down behind his desk, placing his hands over his face while he thought for a few minutes.

The woman watched him from a shadowed corner of the room. He was an ugly man, fat, scars on his face from who knows what, and stringy black hair. She shook her head behind the metal mask she wore with intricate designs carved into it, covering all of her face but her hazel eyes. Her hair was covered in a small cloth band which held it all on top of her head, and attached at both sides to the corners of her mask.

Sometimes you just can't get good help anymore, can you Henrick?

The low sultry voice had come from the corner of the room as the woman stepped out from the shadows. Henrick's head flew up as he spotted the woman, seeing she was rather tall and oddly dressed. Besides what she wore on her face and head, she had on a uniform of a dark purple that almost looked burgundy. On each hip was a weapon of some sort that Henrick couldn't identify. Who the hell are you and how did you get in here?

She smiled beneath the mask and said, That's not important, besides, I'm not going to tell you anyway. What is important is that I know a lot of people who'd like to see you dead.

She pulled one of the weapons off of her hip and began to adjust the settings. Henrick stood up quickly, What do you want? I'll give you anything, I swear

She smiled, Don't worry, it won't hurt, highest settings possible. I promise it'll be painless, at least for me anyway.

Henrick began begging her then. He thought about running for the door, but she was too close to it for him to make it past her. Maybe he could struggle the weapon away from her, but then she had the other one, though that would make them even. But he would have to make it to her before she could take a shot off of her gun. Please, anything, anything you want

I'll take your life then, she grinned maliciously and shot off a round of a powerful burst of red energy which hit him and consumed him whole, eating away his flesh and leaving no trace of the weapon which had done it, or any trace of his outer or inner organs. Just a skeleton remained with clumps of blood and gore stuck to it as it fell to the floor, and Kylie shook her head. It's a shame too. You could've lead an honest life and not been bothered by anyone...like me, should I say.

Kylie then went to the desk and looked at the computer terminal upon it, typing in a few words and came up with a small disc with information on it about Henrick's company. It was what she had been hired to retrieve, and to kill Henrick, for there were in fact several people who wanted him dead. It was simply who could pay the most that would get Kylies attention to do the job, as it had always been.

Kylie left then just as easily as she'd come, boarded her small ship, and left the small planets atmosphere, heading to the delivery point where she would give the disc to her employer and get her pay.

Then she could focus on what she'd wanted to do for years. The money from this job would allow her better armor, and a better ship, one that could carry her as far out as Planet Aines. Then she would not only be able to get bigger and better bounties, but also track down her long lost half sister. It didn't matter how much of a big shot her half sister had become, Kylie would find her. She would find her and have her revenge. Kylie Aran always accomplished her goals. No matter how long it took.

His ship hovered in orbit around Planet Aines. The black hull glinted against the light of the two suns so close yet so far away. It had been a week since Drevan had seen Samus, which was at Jillian's home. He was waiting for her now. She'd told him she would be at Planet Aines in 2 hours, and that was an hour and a half ago. She'd gone to collect on a small bounty, nothing more than collecting a small creature for the Galactic Federations Science Teams, and she had already delivered it.

Drevan couldn't help but wonder why she still did work for the Galactic Federation ever since the Metroids had been extinct and no one had heard much from the Space Pirates in a few years. Perhaps they paid her well, not that she needed the money, he knew. But he'd refrained from asking her, having not found it all that important.

When last he saw Samus, she'd been in Jillian's home and had picked up the signal requesting her services from the Galactic Federation. She hadn't said too much about the mission either, only that it would take her about a week to perform, and she had been right. She left then, the woman he'd gotten to know so well over the 2 days they'd stayed in Jillian's home, but it was more than he'd thought would've happened.

Jillian was on his ship as well. She had wanted to come along, because she said she had some time off and had always wanted to see Planet Aines. She knew Samus wouldn't have let her come along even though she was 20 years old now, so she got the good to go from Drevan, even though she knew there'd be hell to pay for it when Samus came back and found her riding along with him.

Drevan began picking up a signal then and accepted it, hearing that same warped voice. He smiled somewhat, as Samus said, Aren't you coming? I'm on the planet already you slow ass.

Drevan chuckled somewhat and said, I'm on my way.

Once the transmission ended, he began to enter the planets atmosphere, and Jillian walked up behind him, taking a seat across from him. Her piloting skills had improved greatly, and she was quit confident in the fact that if something were to have happened to Drevan she could pilot the ship to where ever they needed to go by herself. Samus' ship on the other hand was a different story. It was far more advanced and had much more different technology than a basic gunship did.

Finding the port, Drevan took landing and saw Samus' ship on the other side of it across from his. Opening the hatch, Jillian stood and watched Drevan exit, following behind him as Samus exited her ship as well. He looked over at her, seeing the armored warrior for the first time since he'd fought her in her suit, and she jumped down from her ship once again, walking towards him. What the hell is she doing here Drevan?

Jillian groaned and rolled her eyes. Unlike some people, Drevan knows I can take care of myself and I'm not a child.

Samus took a deep breath and looked down at her from behind her visor as she shook her head. I know you're not a child anymore, but I won't discuss it here. She looked at Drevan then, And I'll have words with you later. But I've picked up on several signals for you. Haven't you found any of them yet?

Drevan got confused, What types of signals?

Subspace on a high frequency. I guess your ship can't pick them up. I'll have to fix that, she said with a small sigh and then continued, One of them is someone who wants to hire you for a bounty on this planet. Another is someone who wants to have you killed. Obviously an employer who isn't too bright because he actually broadcasted the job on the signal. If I were you I'd find him and have a few words with him before we leave.

Drevan nodded and smiled somewhat. He was about to make a reply to her when she looked up towards the top of the spaceport. Drevan looked back as well and said, What is it?

I'm being followed. Ever since I began my last bounty. It's the same person. Jillian, go to my ship.

Samus

Go to my ship and do me a favor damn it I wasn't going to tell you to wait there. Go to my ship and tell the computer to run a scan of all the ships in this area for a 100 mile radius.

Jillian smiled and ran off, glad she wasn't being told to stay put so she'd be safe and did as Samus asked.

Drevan wasn't sure exactly who or what Samus was looking at, there were about 10 people making their way across the space port where Samus was looking, and he said then, Who is it you're looking at? and turned back around only to find the hunter gone.

Kylie was crouched high above the scenery looking down at everyone in her new armored suit. It had a design something like Drevan's and was quit sophisticated, but nowhere near as durable. To make up for it though, Kylie had also acquired a small device that put out a sort of cloak on her whenever she felt the need to engage it. It not only kept herself from being tracked so easily, but it also helped to make her very hard to see with the naked eye.

She continued watching the port below, and her target until her target disappeared from site. She had her cloaking device engaged now, and was quit sure Samus hadn't seen her. She pushed herself up into a standing position then and was about to reach for her weapon when she felt something tap against the back of her helmet.

All I want to know is who sent you.

The warped voice could be heard quit well, and Kylie knew it was Samus. She turned around slowly then, finding herself staring down the barrel of the cannon on Samus' right arm, and took a deep breath, saying, Wouldn't you like to know.

Well, I guess I'll have to find out the old fashioned way then won't I?

And what is your idea of an old fashioned way hunter?

I'll kill you now and find your ship. Then I'll assimilate all the information I need and find out exactly why you've been following me.

Kylie wasn't prepared for Samus to have said that. She was defiantly going to have to have words with the man who'd sold her the cloaking device for her ship and told her the ship was the best in the galaxy. Obviously, Samus' was better.

I wish you wouldn't run off like that, Drevan said coming up behind Samus and looked at Kylie. Who the hell is this?

Samus began charging up her cannon, In a few moments she won't be anything more than a charred piece of flesh if she doesn't tell me who she is.

How can she tell I'm a she? Kylie wondered, and watched the cannon arm begin to charge. Already she could tell Samus was as determined as herself, and Kylie knew this would be her last chance with Samus. I'll tell you everything Aran, if you can beat me.

Samus' helmet tilted back. Like I said, I can kill you and get the information from your ship. I have no need to waste my time with beating you.

But then you'll never know how I know who your father was, what kind of garbage he was. The only way to get that information is by beating me, for you see, it's all up here, She said and pointed at her own helmet, suggesting the information was only in her head.

Samus growled at her words about her father, and felt like killing her right then and there, but how did he come to play in all of this? She slowly reversed the process in her cannon causing the charged particles to be released outward instead of pulled inward and lowered her gun then. What do you suggest then?

I knew that would capture your attention. Now, down to business, a simple fight. Perhaps to the death, but perhaps not, if you want to know any information that is anyway. Needless to say, I can kill you and not think twice about it, but if you kill me, then you'll never know.

Samus, she's lying, she doesn't know anything about your father, and this is nothing more than a trap, Drevan stated staring at the suited woman across from them.

When and where, were Samus' only words. Drevan looked at her for a moment and shook his head.

Now. As for where, Kylie looked around and thought for a moment. What about the coliseum? I heard you two put up a pretty good fight there the other week.

Samus nodded her head, Agreed. Then she walked towards the side of the ramp they stood upon about 30 feet above the space port and looked down at the ground, I'll be there in 15 minutes.

Before Drevan or Kylie had a chance to respond, Samus jumped from the edge, and they both watched her fall to the ground, turning a few flips on the way and land on her feet, standing up as if she'd just landed on a large pillow.

Drevan looked at Kylie then and said, And you want to fight Samus to the death? Good luck, he smirked and walked off.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

No one was in the coliseum when Jillian and Drevan arrived. Something seemed to be wrong with Jillian the whole way there, and though Drevan had asked, she'd simply said nothing. Drevan let it go and decided she would tell him in due time.

It wasn't long before Samus arrived. She was standing in the rows of seats, watching the field below for the woman whom she was going to fight. Never before had Samus so dearly wanted to win at something than she did now. Though it wasn't for her own survival, simply the curiosity of what the woman had said. Or was Drevan right, and all the woman wanted to do was fight her. But if she did want to fight her, then why? There had to be some gain in it for the woman. Perhaps it was just a bounty she was trying to fulfill.

Soon Kylie walked onto the field then, and Samus heard a voice coming from the other side of the coliseum, it was Keller, and he wanted to know what the bloody hell was going on. Obviously, Drevan couldn't keep his mouth shut about this little event about to take place and had gotten Keller, as well as his servant Lagan in on it. She just hoped they wouldn't call their clan out to watch as well.

She didn't want to wait any longer and jumped down, literally, into the arena. Jillian watched, having seen all that before, but to Drevan, it was pretty new. He wondered how Samus had the ability to jump so high and where she'd gotten it from.

The dirt beneath her rose into the air as Samus landed about 5 feet from Kylie. This fight would be different. There were no rules, no standards, and they both could indeed die.

Let's get this over with, Samus remarked dryly and once again, became the initial aggressor, lunging for Kylie, who in return went for Samus. They locked arms as Samus easily pulled Kylie over and threw her towards the ground. Kylie felt the wind removed from her lungs as she looked up at the hunter towering over her, and she kicked out a leg for Samus' calf to knock her over as well.

Kylies armor helped strengthen her blow, but it wasn't strong enough as all Samus did was begin to walk towards her head, and Kylie rolled to the side, pulling out her Plasma gun, almost like a rifle, but smaller and less powerful. Pushing herself to her knees and backing away from Samus quickly, she began taking shots at Samus constantly, who dodged some by running around the same pole the powerful electric cannon was perched on top of, and hid on the other side. She held her cannon near her head then, setting it to plasma as well. Then she rethought that decision because one blast from her plasma cannon would be enough to kill this woman, and Samus only wanted to stun her long enough to render her helpless.

So instead she decided to use her wave beam, something that was very useful for stunning enemies with a burst of electricity, and once she heard the firing stop, she turned around and pushed herself out from behind the pole to find it had been set on fire, taking one charged shot at Kylie.

The shot hit her plasma gun and knocked it out of her hand. The charge from the burst however also surged into Kylie, who cringed and fell forward onto her knees, and then onto her chest.

It's over? Keller asked the same question Drevan wanted to know.

Not for Samus it isn't, Jillian stated plainly. For Samus, this is just the beginning.

They all watched as Samus walked over to Kylie, and rolled the woman onto her back. Finding the locking mechanisms for her helmet, she undid them and pulled it off.

Drevan and Jillian watched while Samus simply stood there above the woman lying on the ground. Jillian sighed softly and said, That is Samus' half sister. I managed to hack into her ships database and collect the information. With the picture I found, she looks a great deal like Samus.

Samus dropped the helmet and backed away somewhat, staring at the familiar face lying upon the ground.

Kylie opened her eyes then and took a deep breath, seeing that Samus had removed her helmet while she'd been unconscious for those few moments, and she pushed herself up weakly.

Who are you? Samus asked then in a voice as dead as any cemetery.

Kylie had known Samus was powerful, but she didn't know she was that powerful. She supposed she'd learned the hard way as well. Just when she was about to answer, she found Samus' hand gripping her arm and pulling her into a standing position before her, and then pushing her against the near by wall. I said who are you

Kylie gasped as she hit the wall and said quickly, Your half sister, Kylie Aran.

I have no sisters Samus nearly snarled from behind the helmet and continued standing where she was.

Yes you do. A sister your bastard father abandoned, and then he died before I had a chance to take my revenge for him forcing me to live on a desolate planet with a woman who had loved him with all her heart You are everything I've come to hate Samus Aran Why you and not me? I was his first born goddamn it

Samus had turned her head towards the exit of the coliseum. I guess now you'll have to live with the fact that you didn't kill me when you, oh wait, you never had the chance. Samus didn't laugh after that either, she only began towards the exit, stopping once, Much the way I might have had to live wondering what you knew about my father that I didn't, which I can see now is obviously nothing. Then she continued out of the coliseum.

Jillian watched her leave and ran off to go to her ship so that she could be there for Samus when Samus arrived. Drevan on the other hand didn't know what to do.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Samus had already been inside her ship for a while before Jillian got there. Jillian walked into the small area of her quarters and remained silent for a moment staring at the hunters back. Then she finally said, If you need anything, I'll be outside.

Samus didn't reply, instead continued reading the information Jillian had downloaded on Kylie into her database. She's 5 years older than I am.

Jillian stopped and turned around, Yeah I know. I read it before. I didn't get a chance to tell you though because you'd already left for the coliseum.

I can't remember my father all that well, she said as if Jillian hadn't said a word, and then removed her helmet. I can't remember what his full name was, and I can't remember how long he was married to my mother. Perhaps though, in some small way, despite loosing him, what I have of him is far more than what Kylie has. So I can understand her anger. Her jealousy. Every time I see a small child with his or her parents, I feel a twinge of jealousy as well, always wondering why mine were taken from me. Why they had to be taken, and I had to become what I am.

Samus, you can't say that. You know for a fact you're a very good person.

She actually smiled and turned around to face Jillian. I know, but that's not what I mean. What I meant was that I didn't become a regular person and live a regular life. I would die ten times over just to have that sometimes I think. But I know that won't happen. She took a deep breath then and said, I won't kill Kylie. If she comes back to haunt me, I won't kill her. I'll give her the choice of what she wants to do.

Jillian nodded and smiled, I think you're taking this rather well.

Samus snorted, I have no reason not to. I was just surprised is all.

What about disbelief? You're not in denial?

Samus shook her head and said, No. Just shocked still. You can understand that.

Jillian nodded when Samus spoke and then asked, So now what?

Where's Drevan?

I don't know, I left the coliseum without saying anything to him.

Samus nodded and left her quarters, taking a seat behind the helm of her ship. Jillian followed behind her and looked up at the view screen which gave a clear picture of Drevan's ship before Samus', and she spoke then, Samus, look.

Looking up, Samus saw outside Drevan walking towards her ship with Kylie following not too far behind. What is that fool doing?

Drevan looked up at Samus' ship and then back at Kylie. I won't lie, I don't trust you one damn bit, but I can say that I believe Samus can protect herself from anything you try.

Kylie had replaced her helmet, and was still a little out of it from the blast she'd received of Samus' Wave Beam. I told you all I want to do is talk to her. Nothing more.

Perhaps, Kylie thought, she could find out a little more about this woman she'd been so hell bent on taking her revenge upon. She had always known somewhere deep inside she'd had a curiosity about Samus, but her need for vengeance had consumed her, and perhaps now that she realized how tough her little sister was, she was able to let her anger go somewhat. She also admitted to herself it was also because she knew that somehow she'd never be able to get the upper hand against Samus.

She watched then as Samus ascended from the hatch on top of her ship and looked up at the armored hunter.

Samus, if you need me, I'll be looking for the guy you told me about on the signal earlier. The one you said was an idiot?

Samus didn't make any replies to his words, but knew what he was talking about as she stepped away from the hatch and Jillian came out of her ship after her. Drevan knew she was preoccupied and so simply walked off, deciding he'd talk to her later about it and go find the man who'd wanted him killed.

Kylie and Samus seemed to stare at each other for long moments before Jillian broke the silence. Samus, I think I'll go to Drevan's ship and... Ummm...do something...yeah. She shook her head then and walked off, leaving the two behind to stare at each other.

After Jillian had disappeared into Drevan's ship, Kylie finally spoke, I know you don't trust me, but are you going to invite me in your ship or not?

Samus tilted her head to the side then and spoke, I might.

If?

Samus didn't respond, instead she turned around and got back onto her hatch, flipping the switch after she said, Follow me if you want to.

Kylie nodded and hoisted herself up onto the side of the ship, following Samus after she figured out how to work the small contraption that allowed entrance into her ship. Once inside, she looked around at the technology of the ship and then removed her helmet. No wonder you could track me. I've never seen a ship like this before.

Kylie turned her head to face Samus then, who was leaning back against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest, watching Kylie.

Kylie looked back at her then and asked, Don't you ever take your suit off?

No.

She raised an eyebrow then. Shrugging she turned about for a moment, trying to figure out what she should say. Then she heard the sound of air hissing as the valve in Samus' helmet was released, and heard her removing it, turning around to see a face almost like hers. They both seemed to have gotten their fathers hair color and eyes. Samus placed her helmet onto a nearby console then and said, What do you want?

Taking a deep breath, Kylie replied, Maybe to get to know you better. Maybe you made me realize I was wrong. But all those years of wanting to have revenge for being left behind had consumed me. I needed some form of release from it, some sort of outlet, and you were it, my only one.

Samus nodded slowly. I can understand that. It's the same for me. Though I'm still consumed with my need for revenge. Only, my revenge is against an entire race, not simply one person.

Kylie also leaned back and folded her arms over her chest. Care to expound any?

Looking at Drevan's ship from her view screen, Samus thought for a moment. You know the young woman in that ship over there?

Yes.

Her name is Jillian. I've known her for a good 7 years now or so. I've never told her details about what happened, and I consider her the only family I have. I don't think I'll be expounding anything to you any time soon.

Kylie sighed and nodded, Alright, you're entitled to that. Though you could at least tell me who and why.

Space Pirates. Samus looked towards the floor thoughtfully then. They killed my families.

Kylie tilted her head as they both reached up to run their fingers through their hair, and caught each others actions. Samus promptly removed her hand and took a deep breath. I was found by a race called the Chozo after the raid on K-21. They raised me as if they were my parents, and when I got a lot older, the Space Pirates killed them as well.

Kylie nodded then. I can see you do have more on your shoulders than I have had then. Perhaps my actions were not very well thought out.

Samus simply shrugged and looked over at Drevan's ship across the way once more, seeing Drevan return to it and go inside. Perhaps, but everyone makes mistakes.

I want to know something Samus. How did you see me perched on the ledge? I had my cloaking device engaged. There should've been no way for you to track me.

Samus continued watching the other ship as she replied, I have a thermal and x-ray device in my visor. I picked up your heat signature.

Kylie groaned somewhat, I suppose I am out of my league compared to you.

Inside Drevan's ship, Jillian leaned against the back of her chair, sitting in the cockpit while Drevan entered. She looked up at him and asked, Did you find the guy?

He nodded and removed his black helmet. Yeah, I found him, but no one else will.

Jillian nodded and looked back towards the computer screen before her. Drevan looked up at it as well and said, What are you doing?

I'm trying to find out everything about Kylie Aran I can. I'm curious to see if anyone ever compared her last name to Samus in the Galactic Federation, and if they did what she said about it.

Drevan nodded and sat across from her as she groaned. What?

She's never had any interactions with the Galactic Federation. In fact, no file of a Kylie Aran exists on record in the Federation. It's like she was born yesterday.

Drevan chuckled, remembering when he'd tried to find out more about Samus and almost the same thing happened, I suppose once you're an Aran, you're always an Aran.

Jillian grinned over at him and then sat up quickly when she looked back at her computer screen. Oh yes This is what I wanted

What?

Drevan stood up and then leaned against her chair, looking over her shoulder at the computer screen from behind her, interested in what she'd just found.

I just got into her personal logs. They're downloading onto my program now. Computer, locate earliest files and display them.

A few beeps sounded and the files were brought up. Most of them told about different missions she'd done, and how she acquired her weapons and armor. There was very little about her past except a few lines here and there about her mother being fine living on Alaron VI and another few lines about how her vengeance against her half sister would be complete somehow or another. The two sat there and read a lot of the entries and found out more and more about Kylie Aran.

In the end, they found that she and Samus were very much alike. Both liked to work alone, hated the company of others unless it was someone well known, and were as stubborn as anything. Kylie was true at heart, and would never harm someone out of simple pleasure, much like Samus. Jillian shook her head, It's like there's two of them, only one's not as skilled as the other.

Drevan nodded, Yeah, as if one wasn't enough, now she's got a half sister.

Jillian chuckled, No, there's some distinct differences too. For instance, where Samus likes to know about her employers before she takes a job, Kylie doesn't seem to care. But then again, that could be just from experience.

Drevan chuckled and nodded, then saying, I wonder what they're doing over there anyway?


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

It took about another 30 minutes before Kylie exited Samus' gunship. But Samus didn't follow. Drevan and Jillian had been reading about Kylie all that time when Kylie left and started towards their ship. So Drevan went out and intercepted her.

Drevan, Samus wanted me to tell you something.

Drevan got onto the ground and walked towards her. What's that?

As soon as he asked that, the engines of Samus' ship roared to life and it lifted off of the ground, propelling itself upward leaving the spaceport totally. Once the noise died down, Kylie finally said, She wants you to take Jillian back to Planet Inia, and she doesn't want you to try and track her. She got some sort of message when we were on her ship and I didn't get a chance to see what it said. Whatever it was though, it was urgent enough to make her turn a little pale.

Drevan blinked and thought a second, Alright, what are you going to do?

Kylie shrugged. Whatever I want to as usual.

She then turned and began walking out of the spaceport while Drevan watched her and shook his head slowly.

Where'd Samus go?

Jillian's voice came from behind Drevan and his only reply was, I don't know...Yet.

Samus, I don't know how they managed to do this without our intelligence detecting it. All I want you to do is to get as much information as possible, and report back to me. Do not engage them at this time. If what we do know is correct, this operation is bigger than what it looks like.

Samus nodded, That's understood. You do understand though that I will defend myself in the unlikely event that it's necessary.

President Senning nodded his head. Yes, I do understand that, but you know I trust your judgment. President Senning out.

The transmission ended and Samus sat back in her chair, closing her eyes beneath the visor. Her thoughts ran over everything she'd ever done to stop the Space Pirates and the Metroid threats, and it all seemed in vein. No matter how many times she'd stopped them cold in their tracks, they always came back fighting it seemed. But then again, so did she.

It seemed the Space Pirates had been able to steal the DNA sample from one of the laboratories near Earth, a good distance away from Planet Aines, and Samus only hoped she'd get there before they got too far away. The intelligence the president had spoken of was the increased activities on Tallon IV, which had been deserted for some time, until the past few weeks or so. It amazed Samus that the Federation didn't send someone to check out what was going on. But then again, they never seemed to be able to do anything right.

Now it seemed that the space pirates had been planning something for some time now. They'd probably been readying themselves because they knew the Federation wouldn't let them simply take the DNA and be done with it. Samus could only imagine what they would do with that DNA and she only hoped she could stop them before their plans were done and carried out.

Hours passed as Samus traveled towards her destination, which was Tallon IV. During that time, she looked into what the Galactic Federation had found out, seeing that their intelligence was limited, as the President had said.

The first thought in her head was that the Pirates were planning on cloning the Metroids to recreate them and cause problems again. She knew their cloning and bioengineering technology was highly advanced as well, from first hand experience. That was the most likely scenario.

Once she was within sensor range of Tallon IV, Samus engaged her cloaking device and looked up at her view screen, magnifying the image until Tallon IV was very well seen, a familiar face looking down at her. Samus shook her head slowly and heard a beeping noise coming from her COM just then.

She was picking up a signal being sent on a frequency used most of the time by space pirates. What is this? Samus asked herself out loud, and then read what the signal said.

It was encrypted, so it took Samus some time to decipher the coding. Once she had gotten past the odd numerics though, she was finally able to translate it and read what it said.

This is the vessel Omicron. We have the Metroid DNA in tow, and are waiting further instruction for the delivery to your laboratories. Please respond.

Samus sat back slowly. She wondered if this was a trap, set up because they knew she'd be sent to recover the DNA. Tapping a few buttons, she did a scan of the region and found a vessel hiding in the nearby asteroid belt. It was only 5 minutes away at warp 1. She was too far away however to scan the ships defense systems and weapons.

She knew it came down to only two things. Either the pirates were setting a trap for her, because they knew she'd be sent by the Federation, or their vessel Omicron was very well armored and they weren't too worried about her threats to get the DNA back, though she remembered she was only there to assess the situation.

Taking a deep breath, Samus took off towards the asteroid belt, deciding that either way, something out of the ordinary was going on there, and she needed to find out what it was.

This is Science Team Beta responding. We are sending a small cargo ship to you to receive the DNA. Your instructions are to wait in the asteroid belt for their arrival, and then relinquish the DNA to them.

Samus tapped her fingers on her chair as she listened to that. Once she was in range of the vessel Omicron, she did a scan of the ship in more depth. The ship was indeed well armed, with 4 torpedo bays, and 5 phaser banks, also a secondary and primary shield.

Science Team Beta, you do realize we will have to lower our shields to let your cargo ship in our docking bay don't you?

Affirmative. Please follow instructions through.

Samus smiled then. That would be her chance to get onto the vessel. She couldn't wait and report this to the President. It would have to be taken care of now, otherwise they may not get another chance, and the Metroids could indeed be cloned. What Samus heard next however caused her to almost stand up.

Vessel Omicron, we have your coordinates and expect arrival in half an hour. Please inform Commander Ridley of this progress. Science team Beta out.

Shit, not him again, Samus grumbled and was glad she had taken the time to check her weapons just the day before.

Confirmed Science Team, we are also monitoring for Federation Activity. Our orders are to raise shields at the first sign of trouble, despite the status of your cargo ship.

Samus shook her head. It was taking her computer a few minutes to translate the words being spoken, and she wondered for a moment if Omicron would be able to pick up on the fact that their messages were being received by more than one ship in the area, so she ended the transmission just incase. She had enough information, and she would be able to detect when the ships shields had been lowered.

Now it was all a matter of time.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Once the ships shields had been lowered, Samus flew her ship very close to the hull of Omicron, and attached her gunship to it. She made her way into the ship by means of shuttle bay doors nearby, using a charged super missile from her cannon to blow a hole in it. She only detected two life signs on the other side of the door, both space pirates, and as she powered up her missile and let it loose in a blaze of yellow energy, almost instantly the air began to be sucked out of the shuttle bat door once it had been blown open, sucking the two unsuspecting space pirates out with it.

Samus waved bye to them as they floated off into space and jumped into the hole.

Once inside the dimly lit room, she scanned a computer terminal for more information, finding in them a message from the bridge saying a small blast had been detected and wanting to know if everything was under control. She raised her eyebrow and sighed, knowing she wouldn't be able to send a decent response so decided to leave the area quickly. She wasn't worried about her ship because she'd set it to fire at any life form without her bio-signature, as she so often did when traversing hostile territory. So needless to say, if any of the pirates found her ship, they wouldn't live to tell about it.

After the shields were raised to Omicron once again, which as only a few seconds after the two pirates had been killed by Samus, it became safe to open the doors, as the shields would prevent the air from being sucked out of the next room as well, and risking the chance that Samus would be sucked out with it. So she opened the doors and went on, making her up a small corridor.

Upon scanning the other side, she found that it was the docking bay, where the Metroid DNA was to be delivered to the cargo ship. It was filled with Space Pirates, about 15 of them, and Samus took a deep breath. It was now or never.

From the docking bay, the sound of a weapon being charged could be heard and the Pirates looked up and over to the door, as it suddenly exploded, burning two of them who'd went to see what it was in the process.

Samus stood on the other side and some of the pirates roared, taking off after her. As they came towards her, she simply lifted her leg, causing one of them to run straight into her boot and knock itself out, the other, she drug her foot around to, and knocked him backwards somewhat before firing off a round of plasma she'd charged up at him, setting him on fire. As he fell to the floor, she stumbled being hit in the side with a few beams of energy, but looked to the side and started firing off round after round of her plasma beam while side stepping quickly until she was behind a small column to the right of the door she'd blown open. According to her sensors, there were 11 left, she'd taken care of four so far, and she knew she had to stop that cargo ship before it took off for Tallon IV.

The ship was sitting about 10 yards away, and Samus looked around the opposite side of the ship taking off a few shots at it with missiles, but not causing it enough damage to keep it from leaving Omicron all together.

Suddenly she found herself staring at a pirate as it gripped her throat and behind trying to smash her head against the wall behind her. It hit once before Samus rammed her knee into his stomach, causing him to double over, and she shook her head slowly at the rattling she heard from her helmet being slammed against the wall. Kicking him in the head as hard as she could, he fell over completely, and she mumbled, 5 down, 10 to go.

She had to stop anyone from boarding that ship, so she took off towards it then, dodging the pirates blasters the whole way and jumped high into the air, landing on top of the ship and pushing over a pirate who'd been standing on top of it, taking him down to the floor on the other side of the ship with her where she shoved her cannon into his gut and blew his insides out.

As he lay there dead, Samus took his blaster and holding it in her left hand, came around the other side of the ship, firing both her cannon and the blaster simultaneously, watching as about 6 more pirates fell where they stood, and then blew out a few places on the ship itself, giving it that much more damage.

One of the pirates grabbed her from behind, wrapping an arm around her neck and one around her cannon arm, and she pulled forward as they struggled together like that for a while until she saw a pirate standing on a high platform taking a few shots and then turned around, using all her strength, so that the shots hit the one holding her instead, and he let go. After he fell, she turned around quickly and shot the one standing on the platform, knocking him off of it with two missiles.

That's 14, where's the last one, Samus thought to herself just before hearing the engines of the cargo ship start. Looking up, she got on top of the ship and made her way towards the hatch, blowing it up with a charged missile and climbed her way down inside of it. There was a pirate at the controls, trying to get away before he was killed, and probably with the DNA in tow. The hatch had led straight down into the cockpit, and as Samus turned around, the Pirate looked back finally, reaching for it's blaster which sat beside it.

With one shot, Samus blew his head off before he could turn around, his brains and gore splattering all over the controls and the computer screen. She walked forward then and pushed the body to the side, switching to her wave beam and charging it up, planning on shorting out the circuits with a burst of electricity.

As she did so, causing the cargo ship to be rendered inoperable, she felt the small ship shake. Grabbing onto the chair to get keep her balance, she looked up at the ceiling wondering why the ship was shaking so much. Her sensors were picking up a large life form on the hull of the ship, and Samus muttered one word.

Ridley.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The ship continued to shake somewhat as Samus finally heard a loud evil roar and took several deep breaths. Just then, the large talons of the beast reached down inside the hatch where she'd blown it open, but Ridley was too big to fit through it himself. So Ridley continued tearing at the hatch of the ship until he'd opened it much more than it already was, but still he didn't come inside. Samus waited, knowing he was trying to figure out how to get her out of there without damaging the Metroid DNA on board and finally, when she heard him climbing down the side of the ship, she ran for the hatch and jumped straight out of it, flipping through the air and landing several feet away from it, as well as Ridley, turning around to find herself staring straight at the 10 foot tall beast.

Ridley looked like a dragon, with a long snout and razor sharp fangs, golden glowing eyes, webbed wings, and large talons on each of his three fingers as well as three toes. He also had a 7 foot long tail with a spear shape to the tip of it, one of his most deadly features, as well as the ability to breath fire. Despite looking like he was simply a killing machine and knew nothing else, Ridley was very intelligent, and had the ability to talk, though most of his words of English came out garbled and somewhat sputtered sounding, especially because he wasn't a humanoid, and his mouth wasn't shaped properly to speak the language correctly.

Even though, he and Samus never carried out a conversation in words. Only with their fights did they ever speak. Samus had killed this beast numerous times, but he'd only been recreated by the space pirates. Needless to say, Samus had long accepted the fact that he was going to be a constant enemy to her, and one day, she feared they would make some sorts of changes to him to make him invulnerable to even her missiles.

Samus didn't have time to think or worry though, because he lunged for her quickly with his sharp talons, and she ducked to the side, coming around behind him and began to fire her missiles into his back. He roared for only a second before Samus felt him wrapping his tail around her waist, and pull, causing Samus to fly through the air and hit the wall with a lot of force.

She laid there for only a moment, and could still feel the tail wrapped around her as Ridley began flapping his webbed wings and took off. The docking bay was a good size room for him to fly around in, at least 50 ft tall.

Oh shit, Samus grumbled, and then grunted as the tail pulled her into the air with him. She had a feeling he was going to try and smash her into anything he could, so tried her best to keep from hitting anything. Though she wasn't entirely successful as Ridley pulled her along with him, she was able to grab a hold of his tail with her left hand, and get a clear shot of it with her cannon, firing 2 missiles off and watched his tail snap, hearing his roar of pain while she fell to the floor with what had been severed of his tail still wrapped around her waist.

Managing to land on her feet, she looked up and pointed her gun towards Ridley, taking a few more shots off, watching the missiles fly through the air and following him about because of the homing capabilities they had.

Ridley screeched loudly, knowing he had her missiles following him, and turned to head straight for her. Once Samus saw this, she knew he was going to try to get her own missiles to run into her, and so she waited for her chance and once she was close enough, jumped towards him, holding onto his arm while the missiles crashed into the wall behind her.

The fight continued on in midair. Samus was constantly hitting his jaws with her cannon arm while Ridley tried to hit her with his free arm to get her loose. Finally he was able to get his hands around her waist and pull her loose from his arm, where he flew high up towards the ceiling and then let go of her.

Samus! Came Drevan's voice as he saw her once Ridley let go, falling towards the ground. Such a high drop wasn't safe, even for Samus, he knew, and in those seconds he felt his heart almost explode as she feel to the floor, only to see her use her grapple beam to pull herself towards the edge of a platform and hang there from it.

Samus thought she'd heard someone yell her name, and as she hung there from the platform, she looked about and saw Drevan. He was near the door she'd blown up to get inside the room, and she wondered for only a split second how he'd found her, much less gotten onto the ship.

Then she saw Ridley heading straight for Drevan, fire coming from his mouth as he opened it and she yelled, Get out of here

Drevan looked up and jumped back when he saw the beast flying towards him. What the hell is that thing?

As flames began to shoot forward from Ridley's mouth, Drevan took off in a dash to get away from it, finding his way behind the cargo ship and using it for cover. Ridley simply landed on top of the ship and was about to reach down and pick Drevan up when he felt Samus' missiles slamming into him. He stumbled forward with a loud roar of pain, and looked back at the hunter who was now on the floor near by.

Ridley forgot all about Drevan, more concerned with his old foe, and jumped down off the ship, heading towards her. Just as he hit the ground though, Samus let loose a charged missile, something she hadn't had time to shoot at him yet, and as the powered yellow blast shot forth from her cannon with such power that it knocked her weakened body 5 feet backwards, it flew towards Ridley's head, making impact and blowing a hole straight through his cranium. Ridley fell back instantly and landed with a loud thud.

Samus watched this and then let herself lay there upon the ground for a few moments. She was breathing heavily, and soon saw Drevan leaning over her. Are you alright?

Samus didn't respond at first, but instead pushed herself up. How did you get in here Drevan?

He shook his head, Don't worry about it. In fact, don't worry about anything right now. There are 5 federation ships outside right now, and they actually have this vessel in tow. I'm still not sure what this is all about, but I asked for Jillian's help in finding you, and she agreed, and helped me decipher the Federations transmissions. Once we heard they were sending battle ships to this area, we decided that's where we needed to be, and so we followed them here, and it wasn't too hard after that. What the hell was that thing anyway?

Samus didn't say anything as the doors opened and she saw a number federation soldiers run in. They all went to secure the cargo ship, and some of them went towards Samus and Drevan. Who are you?

One of them had asked Drevan that question. He didn't get a chance to answer though before Samus said, He's my back up.

But you work alone Samus.

Most of the time. But I've been finding that more and more difficult to do here lately.

Drevan smiled somewhat, supposing Samus was alright, she'd just been worn out from the fight. He'd find out what that thing was she'd killed later. The soldiers began trying to help Samus to her feet, but as Drevan expected she turned down their help and stood on her own. The DNA is on that ship over there. Don't thank me or anything.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

A week had passed since the events on Omicron. Drevan hadn't seen or heard from Samus though Jillian assured him that was perfectly normal for her, especially after these types of things. Drevan had taken a few missions himself in that past week. He'd been successful on all of them, but he was bothered that Samus had made a decision, and not even said goodbye to him. He was doing some research on his ship when he picked up a signal and accepted it.

Care to meet me in an hour?

Samus?

Yes.

Drevan blinked. Yes, where at?

Where we first met. Don't be late alright?

I won't be. Drevan out.

What was that all about, he though to himself in question. She sounded so distant, maybe she wasn't feeling well. He shook his head slowly then and set his course for Planet Aines. It would take him about an hour to get there, so he set the course in as soon as he ended the transmission.

Samus was waiting on the surface of the planet below. She was standing in the space port waiting quietly when Drevan's ship pulled down and initiated its landing sequence. Once the ship was settled Samus went to let herself in.

Drevan was wearing regular clothing as if he'd been relaxing. When Samus approached him, he said, Where have you been?

Earth. After everything that happened I had to take care of a few matters with President Senning who still thinks I'm his puppet girl. I would've gotten in contact with you, but I didn't want anyone to pick up on any transmissions I might send, especially since I didn't know where you were exactly or if you were even in range.

Drevan nodded and looked down for a moment. I have a feeling you've come to say goodbye.

Samus sighed and took off her helmet. He watched as she put it down and shook her head. No, I came to tell you I missed you. I'm not that damn heartless.

Drevan nodded and smiled somewhat, Can't get enough of me?

Samus just shrugged somewhat and said, That could be.

Have you seen Kylie lately?

Samus shook her head, Seen no, heard from, yes. She's been doing her own thing as I usually do. Why?

I was just curious if maybe you'd spent some time with her this past week? I mean after all, she is your sister.

No, she's just a woman who has the same father as I do. I do have a feeling though that I will see her again, though I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.

Drevan shrugged unknowingly.

Samus nodded and they just looked at each other for a moment. She wondered where the half blood would lead her to in the future. She wondered what kind of problems it would cause to have a half sister like Kylie. She remembered the last thing she'd told Kylie before Kylie left her ship that day they fought, and she wondered if Kylie had taken it to heart.

Just because we're half blood doesn't mean I'm taking you under my wing or giving you any respect. The only thing I will give you is acknowledgment.

Kylie just nodded to Samus' words and said, It was more than your father gave.

Then Kylie had left. Samus sighed softly at the thought, and wondered if what Kylie had said meant she'd be coming back again, sometime soon when she had more skill, and then try to do away with Samus again. Either way it went, Samus wasn't going to forget her, if only to protect herself, and she would face her again when and if the time came. Perhaps it was sibling rivalry, Samus thought and smiled somewhat.

But it wouldn't be soon, and so Samus let it go for now. Now she only wanted to concentrate on one thing. Herself and the one who stood before her. Even if it didn't work out with him at least she could say she tried. At least she could say she had someone. At least she could say she wasn't a cold heartless monster, and know it for a fact and the truth.

The End


End file.
